Bear spray as a self defense tool?

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Banned

I saw some of the troublemakers out in Portland getting sprayed with bear spray (the article said) and it scattered them. Is this 'bear spray' more powerful than the usual pepper spray stuff you get at gun shops for self defense?
If so, I think I will buy some.

Senior Member

I'm pretty sure bear spray isn't near as potent at your typical self-defense pepper spray/mace. One advantage of bear spray is the fog cloud pattern it throws instead of a concentrated stream like mace.

Banned

I'm pretty sure bear spray isn't near as potent at your typical self-defense pepper spray/mace. One advantage of bear spray is the fog cloud pattern it throws instead of a concentrated stream like mace.

My thinking was that if the stuff is powerful enough to turn away a great big bear, what chance would a human have against it?????
I like the 'fog' aspect. That would stop the troublemaker quick enough for me to get in a solid sidekick to break his knee and when he hits the pavement, I can run away like a rabbit.
What do you think?

Senior Member

I saw some of the troublemakers out in Portland getting sprayed with bear spray (the article said) and it scattered them. Is this 'bear spray' more powerful than the usual pepper spray stuff you get at gun shops for self defense?
If so, I think I will buy some.

I would strongly recommend NOT using bear spray for self defense. I have never had a bullet from a gun shift direction and come back and hit me in the face cuz the wind was off. Guns are for self defence against bears and humans, bear spray is for hippies and old women who are afraid of guns

Senior Member

A fishing guide in Alaska was giving pointers before fishing the streams in bear country. As he told of bluff charges, sows with cubs, and territorial male bears he handed each of his clients pepper spray and a small silver bell to ring. Said the bell alone was enough to deter most bears. He told them as your walking keep a lookout for scat. He said black bear scat is sometimes seedy and will appear black or gray, when he was interrupted by one of the clients who asked "Well what does grizzly scat look like?" The guide said " it's very easy to recognize, it'll have little silver bells in it and smell like pepper spray!"

Senior Member

Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals:
Danger may cause irreversible eye damage if sprayed in the eye.
Also,
It is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.

Senior Member

I am 100% certain that bear spray is a legal defense mechanism in the event of a human-on-human attack in the state of Georgia and all across the U.S. I disagree that bear spray is weaker than human defensive bear spray. I believe it is 100% the exact same compound. Its just canned capsaicin. Its nothing new, nothing fancy or innovative, and nothing special. Bears have a facial trigeminal nerve just like humans do which makes us sensitive to capsacian. Personal pepper spray is made for human inter-relational distances (up close and personal), while bear spray is the same compound but loaded in larger quantity (bears can be bigger), and with more propellent (to stop a bear at a further distance).
The "intended chemical use" laws don't apply in GA and perhaps anywhere across the United States in terms of self defense. If a man attempts to rape a woman, and she sprays battery acid in his eyes and blinds him, she will not be charged with misuse of a chemical compound outside of its intended use.
If you choose bear spray as a means of defense, remember that you can't check the wind in a life threatening situation. It might spray you and disable you too. Also remember that you only get 1 chance at spraying your assailent with bear spray hoping to tickle his skin. A Springfield XD-40 gives you 15 chances to tickle his skin, and it penetrates a lot....LOT deeper than a spray. Put your faith in a good handgun, and learn to use it. I'd rather blast a crater hole in an assailent's chest with a .40 then spray him with some IcyHot in a can. When it comes to self defense, shoot to kill. You are #1 and come first. Your assailent should rot in the grave.

Senior Member

Bear spray will mess you up. And anyone else around. Ive heard of bush pilots that will not allow it inside the plane. It's has good pressure and "shoots" a stream but it also provides plenty of overspray. More often than not spraying everyone and everything

The concentration may or may not be lower than mace, but the volume is much greater. Cans of bear spray are huge compared to mace.

Senior Member

I'm currently living in Montana. A friend was accidently sprayed with bear spray a few months back. He said it was terrible! They also had to evacuate the entire building after he was sprayed. In the last month or so 7 people in my area have been attacked by grizzly bears. One was killed, he sprayed the bear with spray before it killed him. One of the other attacks, bear spray ran the grizzly off of the victim. Last week two elk hunters were attacked, it took both of them using spray to get the bear to break off the attack. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I think it pretty much depends on the will power of the bear.

And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson~

Senior Member

Banned

I am 100% certain that bear spray is a legal defense mechanism in the event of a human-on-human attack in the state of Georgia and all across the U.S. I disagree that bear spray is weaker than human defensive bear spray. I believe it is 100% the exact same compound. Its just canned capsaicin. Its nothing new, nothing fancy or innovative, and nothing special. Bears have a facial trigeminal nerve just like humans do which makes us sensitive to capsacian. Personal pepper spray is made for human inter-relational distances (up close and personal), while bear spray is the same compound but loaded in larger quantity (bears can be bigger), and with more propellent (to stop a bear at a further distance).
The "intended chemical use" laws don't apply in GA and perhaps anywhere across the United States in terms of self defense. If a man attempts to rape a woman, and she sprays battery acid in his eyes and blinds him, she will not be charged with misuse of a chemical compound outside of its intended use.
If you choose bear spray as a means of defense, remember that you can't check the wind in a life threatening situation. It might spray you and disable you too. Also remember that you only get 1 chance at spraying your assailent with bear spray hoping to tickle his skin. A Springfield XD-40 gives you 15 chances to tickle his skin, and it penetrates a lot....LOT deeper than a spray. Put your faith in a good handgun, and learn to use it. I'd rather blast a crater hole in an assailent's chest with a .40 then spray him with some IcyHot in a can. When it comes to self defense, shoot to kill. You are #1 and come first. Your assailent should rot in the grave.

I hadn't thought too much about that "overspray" aspect of the stuff and it coming back to get me as well as the assailant.
I saw a bus driver unload some type of spray fog on a man who tried to run up on her bus with a knife and I mean to tell you, he gave it up quick. He went NUTS with pain. She closed the door and kept on driving.
I suppose if you spray someone, the thing to do is to get away from there in a hurry and not finish them off with other means of brutal force.

Senior Member

I've witnessed the use of police strength pepper spray many times. Including overspray on myself.
It will eventually cause your eyes to swell to the point that you can't see. Even if you can endure the pain.
The fog is effective on moving targets but gives a lot of overspray. The stream is more targetable but is harder to hit the target with.
Like others have said bear spray is a larger volume canister and is usually a fog type delivery.
On people you can use the spray when a gun might not be legal.

"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." -- Ayn Rand

Banned

I've witnessed the use of police strength pepper spray many times. Including overspray on myself.
It will eventually cause your eyes to swell to the point that you can't see. Even if you can endure the pain.
The fog is effective on moving targets but gives a lot of overspray. The stream is more targetable but is harder to hit the target with.
Like others have said bear spray is a larger volume canister and is usually a fog type delivery.On people you can use the spray when a gun might not be legal.

That's what I was getting at.
The laws in Georgia are so strict about you better be able to prove you were in fear of your life before killing someone.
It would be my bad luck to get sent to prison if I shot somebody.

Senior Member

That about sums up why I would never carry the stuff unless I am forced to do so, most of the time you're going to suffer from using it. I have deployed it several times in law enforcement and every time I got some too. If the wind conditions are wrong you could put yourself out of the fight and not effect the attacker at all, the mist/fog is the WORST.

If the attacker is enraged enough, high, or mentally disturbed the results can be marginal to ineffective, some animals and people just fight right through it. It works in these civil unrest situations because you're not usually dealing with hard core bad hombres.